A hundred Veela—the mascots of the Bulgarian national team—slid onto the field, their skin glowing with a soft radiance, and their hair swaying as though touched by an invisible breeze.
In the center of the field, they began to dance, looking stunningly beautiful.
So beautiful, in fact, that many of the spectators couldn't help themselves, standing up and attempting to jump onto the field.
Their partners were frantically pulling them back, and it seemed that countless domestic arguments would erupt after the match.
In the VIP box, Mr. Weasley sat upright and rigid.
—Which was understandable, considering he was under his wife's piercing gaze.
But at that moment, Jane Yu felt a sudden tug on her arm. She turned her head and was stunned to see Harry, his face flushed red, with one leg propped against the wall of the box as though preparing to vault over it.
When he noticed her turning to look, he hastily withdrew his hand from her arm in a panic.
"Harry, what are you doing?"
Hermione, sitting nearby, couldn't help but shoot Harry a look of disdain.
From behind them came a faint snicker, unmistakably Draco's mocking laughter.
Under the curious and teasing gazes of the people in the box, Harry wished he could dig a hole and bury himself in it.
Unfortunately, the floor of the box was too solid, so he could only bury his face between his thighs, groaning as he pressed his head down heavily.
Indeed, the boy was still far too innocent.
After all, he was the kind who couldn't even bring himself to look at a bikini-clad girl on a magazine cover!
Jane thought to herself.
It had to be said—the Veela were indeed effective mascots. After their appearance, nearly all the spectators were rooting for the Bulgarian team.
"What's Ireland?" people shouted, tearing off the shamrocks of the Irish team they were wearing. "We only have Bulgaria in our hearts!"
But soon, they would need the shamrocks again, because there was something even more irresistible than beauty and allure…
—Money.
Countless tiny Leprechauns—the mascots of the Irish national team—flew into the stadium.
They hovered overhead, showering enormous gold coins onto the spectators' heads and seats.
"What's Bulgaria? What's Veela?" people immediately changed their tune, scrambling for the coins in a chaotic frenzy, even diving under their seats. "Ireland is the only god in our hearts! Ireland forever!"
Then came the players' entrance... the whistle signaling the start of the match... the cheers following each goal...
But Jane's attention was soon drawn back to the mascots on both sides.
The Veela danced in celebration whenever Bulgaria scored, and even competed in dance-offs with the Leprechauns when their team conceded.
The consequence of such dancing was—
Referee Hassan Mustafa ignored the match entirely and rushed toward the Veela, stripping off his outer robe and striking poses to show off his muscles and beard.
He looked as though he might be sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention.
A stadium medic had to rush toward him, half-covering his eyes, and deliver several hard kicks.
Humiliated before spectators from around the world, the referee angrily tried to send the Veela home, eliciting boos from the crowd.
Soon, the Leprechauns began flipping off the Veela, who lost control, their faces transforming into bird-like heads and wings sprouting from their bodies, as they hurled flames at the Leprechauns.
The mascots from both teams started brawling, and wizard officials swarmed onto the field in an attempt to separate them, with little success.
This was far more entertaining than the match itself.
Jane watched with great interest, so much so that she didn't even notice when Krum caught the Golden Snitch and the match ended.
...
But joy was often followed by worry.
Late at night, singing and revelry from the camp still echoed in the night sky.
Jane couldn't sleep, her thoughts drifting to the Malfoys' warning, and she began to worry about why Dumbledore hadn't arrived yet.
Half-asleep, she was startled awake by screams and the sound of frantic running.
Mrs. Weasley burst into the tent, shouting:
"Get up! Quickly—emergency—Ginny—Yu—Hermione—"
Jane rolled out of bed and ran out of the tent with the other girls, followed closely by Harry and Ron.
"Hurry!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. "Forget about the others—they're helping the Ministry maintain order—"
"What's happening?" Jane asked.
"A rally—they're marching—they've gone mad—"
People were fleeing toward the woods, as though escaping something advancing through the camp. Jeering, drunken laughter, and raucous shouting filled the air—a group of tightly packed wizards, each with their wands pointed upward, moving forward in unison.
They wore hoods and masks, their malicious intent unmistakable.
"Run! Run!" panicked voices urged.
The marching wizards turned toward the source of the commotion, aiming their wands at the chaotic crowd.
Their faces, hidden behind masks, bore expressions of madness and glee as they lightly flicked their wands—
Green light, or invisible ropes... countless beams of spell light illuminated the night sky, fear and chaos becoming the dominant theme...
But none of that happened.
The green light didn't appear, nor did any spell beams flash. Instead, rubber ducks, rubber codfish, and rubber chicks sprang forth, landing among the crowd.
The marching Death Eaters were clearly unprepared for this sudden turn of events. They froze in place, stunned, even forgetting to move forward.
Their once orderly ranks began to scatter, their masked faces showing shock and confusion as they stared incredulously at their hands, glancing left and right.
A cacophony of arguments buzzed through the air, and the Death Eaters angrily blamed each other, fumbling to retrieve new wands from their robes.
"What's going on? What kind of trick is this?"
"My wand—it's malfunctioning!"
Various voices overlapped, and the scene descended into chaos. The Death Eaters grew increasingly agitated.
"Is this the wand you bought for everyone?" a Death Eater wearing a red-nosed mask loudly demanded of the wizard to his left.
"I... I don't know..." the wizard stammered, his voice trembling. "That black-haired girl told me it was disposable... convenient and efficient..."
"She sold it to me for five Galleons each! You know, wands from Diagon Alley cost seven Galleons... so expensive... how could I have known they were defective..."
"Idiot! Fool!" the red-nosed Death Eater shouted, turning to the wizard on his right. "Take out the wand you bought!"
They began distributing a new round of wands, and soon everyone had one.
A loud laugh rang out from the crowd, immediately drawing the attention of the marching wizards.
"What's so funny?" the man asked, bewildered. "All this commotion—what kind of gathering is this? A magician's trick?"
Jane recognized the source of the laughter—it was Mr. Roberts, the camp manager, standing with his wife and two children.
"Filthy Muggle." The red-nosed Death Eater suddenly pointed his wand at him. "You need to be taught a lesson—"
A rubber parrot landed on Mr. Roberts, squawking as if mocking the wizard's stupidity.
"Hang them up!" another wizard shouted, waving his wand. "Wingardium—"
Another rubber frog landed on the Muggle child, who giggled and picked up the frog, playing with it in his palm.
"The moon shines bright, the frogs croak loud—"
Scattered laughter erupted from the onlookers, but the Death Eaters appeared panicked and disoriented.
"Traitor! Traitor!" the red-nosed Death Eater yelled, grabbing the robe collar of the wizard to his right. "The plan is exposed—you've made us clowns—"
"No... no..." the wizard protested weakly, his hands pushing feebly. "It's all because of that girl and those two boys—I was tricked!"
"They said it was disposable, that it wouldn't expose our identities—very confidential—"
"Idiot!" the red-nosed Death Eater growled, releasing his collar and drawing his own wand to aim at Mr. Roberts:
"Crucio—"
His spell didn't get the chance to be cast, as he was suddenly blasted backward by a beam of white light, flying a good dozen meters through the air.
A voice, old yet supremely authoritative, rang out among the crowd:
"Stop!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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